'Break the pattern, change mindset' - Pankaj Advani, ace billiards and snooker player's secret behind 23 world titles

When one looks at dominance across sports in the first two decades of the 21^st century, there are some gigantic achievements. Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slam titles, Rafael Nadal has won 12 French Opens. Michael Schumacher has won five Formula One titles (seven overall) followed by Lewis Hamilton with six. The Australian cricket team has won five major ICC events (three World Cups and two ICC Champions Trophy) while the New Zealand All Blacks lost only once in a decade in the Rugby World Cup. Amidst all this, there is one Indian player who has gone about his job in a quiet manner but his feats have put even legends behind.

Billiards and snooker have not seen much heydays in India, but in the last two decades, one man has flown the tricolour high consistently. He has 14 World Billiards titles, 3 World Snooker titles, 4 Professional Billiards titles and an Asian title. He has won the Grand Slam in both Billiards and Snooker. In 2019, he became the only player to win the Asian and World championships in all formats (six reds and 15 reds) of snooker. He is also the only one to do so in both billiards and snooker. He has won gold twice in the Asian Games in 2006 and 2010. He has won Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and the Padma Bhushan.  

How does Pankaj Advani, the 35-year-old and one of India’s finest sportsman ever, achieve this level of dominance and consistency for so long? “It is a matter of belief. It is like defying logic, breaking a norm or changing the mindset. Our minds are so stuck to certain patterns in sports. A small example – If you have cold, you should not have curd. It is a traditional belief. A lot of things may not be true. It may be myth. It may be good to break the barriers. Keep thinking and push ourselves to a belief that anything is possible,” Advani said in an exclusive telephonic chat to DNA from Bangalore.

Advani’s brilliance will be part of the Web Series Finish Line that has been hosted by Squash player Saurav Ghosal and it will be telecast this Friday. Along with Abhinav Bindra and Viswanathan Anand, Pankaj Advani will be the latest legend to talk about what goes behind the making of great feats.

“It was a huge honour to be selected. It was massive. Sourav Ghosal has done a thorough research. He has not just talked about the achievements but he has gone behind the scenes as to how the achievements were achieved, how we were the day before, on the days of the knockouts, how is the mindset in the making of a  champion athlete,” Advani said.

Belief is the key

When Advani started playing, his first major title came in snooker. It was his urge to learn about the finer nuances of billiards that pushed him to achieve greater success in that sport.

“Initially when I started playing Billiards and Snooker, many senior players said that it was impossible to specialise in both. You have to choose between one. At the national level, it is ok. My first world title actually came in snooker in China in 2003 which was a very special moment in my life. Then, a couple of years later, I though why don’t I try playing Billiards? I was a good Billiards player back then but not a great one. Let me get into the finer points and nuances and then brush up. In 2005, I had an exceptional year when I won all the Billiards title. That was when I realised that it could be done. However, I started winning more consistently from 2012, that is when it took off. I was wining even back then but not consistently. Playing both sports as consistently for the last 6-7 years,” Advani said.

Coronavirus a time of innovation

The coronavirus pandemic has stalled many sporting events all over the world. The IBSF has announced that there will be no international events in 2020. Advani, though, is looking at this as a period when there can be some innovation to overcome the challenge of cue sports in the country. Advani stressed that this is the right time for TV coverage of cue sports when it resumes. However, the worsening economic situation will make certain things challenging.

“Cue Sports has not been televised. That is the real challenge. That is something which the federation can look into. If you actually think carefully, Billiards and Snooker is a TV friendly sport if packaged well. There is scope. In fact, in times of COVID, it is actually the opposite. You are looking at closed door sporting events. Anyway, snooker does not have many fans. It is not played in a stadium. Even IPL is played behind closed doors. This is a time of improvisation. Let us get it on TV. We don’t need spectators now, anyway they won’t come due to the health and safety issues attached to it,” Advani said.

One hopes that in 2021, Pankaj Advani can add more trophies and titles to his tally and continue to enhance the legacy of cue sports, one that was started by Wilson Jones, enhanced by the brilliance of Michael Ferreira and Geet Sethi and now proudly taken forward dominantly by Pankaj Advani.